Responses
by Ytak
Summary: This is my fic drop for the challenges I've responded to on the livejournal DCMK fanfic community. Range in length, rating, and subject from chapter to chapter. Some are humorous, some are very dramatic. ch 12: Mouri tries to let go
1. Challenge 1: Branching Out

**Rating:** K+ (PG)  
**Challenge:** A heist (of some kind)

* * *

The men of the Kaitou Kid Taskforce looked around their environment uncomfortably. A few of the younger member were holding tissues to their noses and looking everywhere but at the displays in the store.

Now why were these disciplined men uncomfortable?

Well, it's quite simple really. They were standing in the middle of a ladies undergarment store. And not just any store for ladies undergarments. No, that would have been too kind for them. In truth, they were standing-well-shifting uncomfortably in the middle of the newly opened Victoria's Secret store in downtown Tokyo.

Now why were these men in at a Victoria's Secret in the first place?

Simply put, the Phantom Thief was now a Panty Thief. Well, to be more precise, an underwear thief since he was going to lift the diamond encrusted Victoria's Secret bra and panty set. But I digress.

It wasn't so much that Kid was out to steal the set. He was more interested in the 70-carat diamond gracing the front of the bra. However, since it was part of a set, he could not just take the bra, he obliged to take both articles of clothing.

Kid crouched within a rack of camisoles trying to keep a poker face as he watched the police shift around the store uncomfortably. He had overheard more than one officer say that the lady of the household expected something nice when they returned from duty that night.

At precisely 11:57 p.m., a spotlight turned on, illuminating the display. As the police stared in wonder at glittering underwear, Kid slipped out of his hiding place and made his way to the top of the display with a series of acrobatic maneuvers.

Kid and the police went through the (fairly) normal maneuvers that comprised a Kid heist. Kid goes for target. Nakamori yells for everyone to get Kid. Kid embarrasses the police. Kid gets away with the target.

As Kid left the building, he considered what to do with the underwear if the jewels were not what he was looking for. A grin grew on his face as he made his getaway via glider. _So many choices on how to return the heist. Oh, how will I ever decide?_

Ending 1

Nakamori slammed on the brakes as he passed in front of the police headquarters the morning following the heist. Hanging from the flagpole in their glittery glory was the previous night's heist.

Ending 2

"Daddy…?"

"Hmm, yes, Aoko?" Nakamori said through his pipe as he read the morning paper.

"I really do appreciate it when you buy me stuff but…well, this is kind of disturbing to get from you father," she said throwing an opened box on the table.

He placed his paper on the table and pulled the box toward himself. As he looked in the box, his face took on the shade of a ripe plum and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

Nakamori's rage was so great that he could not express it any other way than to make strangling motions with his hands.

Ending 3

In England, Hakuba pulled a package addressed to him from the family's mailbox. Instead of a return address, there was a tiny Kid face drawn on the corner.

As he opened the package, his fears were realized. Kid had sent him lingerie.

* * *

I couldn't decide which ending to use. So you can pick your favorite. The third ending is for Icka (You evil influence!). This thing was spawned by reading some of stories here and by the old mental image of a diamond encrusted bra offered for sale from Victoria Secret. Really, they were selling the thing for $11 million. And it had a 70-carat diamond on it. 


	2. Challenge 7: Well

**Rating:** K+ (PG)  
**Challenge:** Cosplay

**

* * *

**

_Well…damn_, thought Kaitou Kid as he held up a small set of clothes to his lanky frame. _I don't think this is going to work._

He tossed the small set of clothes aside and picked up the bowtie. Twisting the knobs to a certain point and spoke into it with his 'Kid" voice and out came his regular voice. With a growing grin, he played with the knobs while manipulating his own voice to see if there was any difference.

In an apartment in Beika, Conan opened his clothing drawer and called out, "Ran-neechan? Have you seen my coat, shorts and bowtie?"


	3. Challenge 9: Affects

Rating: K (G)  
Challenge: Drug use (any kind of drug)

* * *

"Why is Kaito asleep?" asked Takeo, a classmate of Kaito's. 

"He drank some Red Bull," replied Akako.

He looked puzzled, "I thought that was an energy drink."

"It is," she said with a devious grin on her face.

"Then why…?"

"Apparently lots of caffeine makes him fall asleep. He drank three."

He looked at Kaito, who had a small puddle of drool on his desk, and said, "He's weird." Then he noticed Hakuba. "What about Hakuba-kun?"

"Kaito had bet him that he couldn't drink more than he could."

"How many has he had?"

"Um, four?" Akako answered with a shrug.

"So, you don't know." Takeo yelled to Hakuba, "Hakuba-kun? How many Red Bulls have you had?"

"Ilikepie!" Hakuba responded from atop the supply cabinet that he perched on like a hawk.

Takeo gave Hakuba the same look he gave Kaito earlier. Akako saddled up next to Takeo and held out a can to him. "You want to see if you can beat Hakuba-kun?"

Takeo looked at Kaito and then Hakuba. Without saying a word, he sprinted from the classroom. He decided it was safer to eat lunch elsewhere.

Akako snorted, "Lightweights." She opened the can she had offered Takeo and drank her sixth can of the day.


	4. Challenge 9 take 2: Fairy Dust

**Rating: **T (PG-13)  
**Warnings:** Underage drug use and consequences thereof.  
**Author notes:** Uses the setup for Ayumi's apartment in the third movie. According to the movie, she lives in an apartment with a balcony attached to her room. After I posted the earlier response to challenge 9 this idea demanded to be written. It's very different than the other fic.  
**Challenge:** Drug use

* * *

"Psssssssst! Hey girl!" a man dressed in clothes with dirt smudged pants hems. 

"Hmm? Me," said Ayumi, walking a little closer to the man. But not too close. She knew it was not a good idea to talk to strangers.

"Would you like to by some fairy dust?"

Ayumi smiled, "Like the stuff in Peter Pan? That can make you fly if you think of happy things?"

The guy gave her a smile, "Yeah, kid, this stuff will make you fly." He squatted down so he was closer to her height. "For you today, I can give you a little."

Her smile grew. "Really?" she asked excitedly.

"Yep," he said, handing her a very small packet of white stuff. "Only you don't throw this up in the air around you. You have to snor-uh, sniff it and in a few minutes you'll be flying." He leaned ever so slightly towards her, "And if you really like it, you can come get some more for me."

"Okay," she said cheerfully as she ran off. "Thank you, mister."

Soon, Ayumi was home. Today would normally be a boring day since the Genta, Mitsuhiko, Ai, and Conan all had plans but things were looking up. _Won't they all be so jealous when they learn I got fairy dust?_

She went into her room and did her homework (so she would definitely be happy about not having any homework to do). Taking out the packet, she noticed that there was not very much fairy dust. _It's not as sparkly as I thought it would be._

She sniffed straight out of the bag but had to stop when the dust made her sneeze. "Uh," she sniffed trying to clear her nose, "I don't know if this is going to work."

Putting the bag down, she eyed it, tying to think of a way to get the dust to work without sneezing. A little while later, still staring at the bag, she realized she was beginning to feel light. _Like I can fly!_ was her excited thought.

She sniffed more, suppressing the urge to sneeze. A short while later, she felt like she could circle the planet. To complete the feeling, Ayumi opened the door to the balcony of the apartment. She could feel a steady wind blow by her and she spread her arms.

What was this? The wind was being partially blocked by the railing. Unknowing of the danger she climbed on to the top of the railing. Now she really felt like she was flying. She could feel the wind whip past her face and outspread arms.

How wonderful! Ayumi thought, her eyes closed against the strong wind. _I hope it never ends!_

Ayumi thought, her eyes closed against the strong wind. 

The next day of school was a sad one for the members of the Detective Boys. They had lost one member of their group. Conan was grieving, too, but he was also livid with anger. Ai even had to make an effort to not show the anger she was feeling.

There had been reports of drugs circulating in the area but no one had seen a need to do anything about it. All the drug use was all recreational with no major consequences until yesterday. Now there would be a massive manhunt to catch the person who distributed the drugs. No parent wanted his or her child to fly like that.

* * *

O.o I don't know where the plot came from. It was supposed to be funny originally. 


	5. Challenge 8: Honeymoon Vacation

**Rating:** K+ (PG)  
**Challenge 8:** Vacation time

**

* * *

**

**Honeymoon Vacation**

* * *

It started out great  
It started out fine  
But before we knew it  
It was an end to enjoyment's time

We stumbled across a body  
The mess was quite splattered  
Screaming didn't help  
It wasn't what mattered

Our day of fun in the sun  
That was supposed to be sunny and bright  
Passed right before our eyes  
And went into the dark of night

The boys ran around collecting clues  
Dusting prints, and witness interviewing  
The way they acted like husband and wife  
We thought that it was rather amusing

They solved the murder  
Of which we had no doubt  
Why did this happen on our double honeymoon?  
So Kazuha and I stood around in pout

"Kazuha-chan," I said  
"Maybe we should become lesbians  
Because their need for an audience  
When solving a case means they are thespians"

"What does you mean by that?" she asked  
I told her, "Many men who are thespians or actors  
Are known or assumed to be gay  
And I have taken that in account as a factor"

As so, Kazuha and I  
Told the boys we'd leave them alone  
Together, we walked to our rented beach house  
Our temporary home


	6. Challenge 4: Motivation

**Rating:** K+ (PG)  
**Challenge 4:** Alcohol

* * *

Motivation

* * *

"…Kids on the wall. Seventy-eight Kaitou Kids on the wall, seventy-eight Kaitou Kids. You take one down, pass 'im around, seventy-seven Kaitou Kids on the wall," Hakuba and Akako sang drunkenly in English.

The off-key singing continued until they reached seventy-one when Hakuba hiccupped and toppled forward, his forehead resting on the grimy bar top.

Akako looked with glazed over eyes at the blond-haired detective. She nudged him with and elbow, eliciting only a muffled groan from her peer. She slurred, "We hash to finish the shong."

She stared blankly at him for a minute and shrugged when he did not respond. After downing another shot, Akako took a deep breath as she prepared to pick up where she left off. Provided she could remember which number to start back on.

Abruptly, Hakuba asked, "How did you give up on chasing him?"

"Huh?"

"Kid. How did you give up on chasing him?" he asked, turning his head so he could make eye contact.

"How'd you know I was chasing after him before?" she replied, looking at her empty glass.

"Many clues," he said sitting up. He waved his hand as he dismissed her question, not trusting his ability to elaborate coherently while drunk. "How?"

She leaned toward him a little, "I realized that I didn't really want him. What I wanted was the thrill of chasing him. Chasing someone that did not want me." Akako turned away from Hakuba, a secretive smile gracing her face, "Besides, I've developed a new hobby since then."

Placing another drink in front of him, she said, "I don't think that's the reason you chase him." She grabbed a cup that sat nearby and took a drink, "Not your only reason. I think you love the challenge but also your innate sense of justice doesn't want him getting away from you. Ever."

She raised the half-empty cup to Hakuba, "Don't worry about tonight. The nice thing about Kid is that _you_ can have a second chance at catching him." She paused, "Unlike me."


	7. Challenge 13: Hakuba's Assistance

**Rating:** K (G)  
**Challenge 13:** Lending a helping hand

**

* * *

**

**Hakuba's Assistance**

* * *

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" screamed Aoko as Kaito ran off after flipping her skirt for the fifth time that day. "That, that, that…BOY!" she said, moving her hands in a throttling motion as if she were strangling a certain someone.

"Kuroba-kun do something ungentlemanly again, Nakamori-kun?" asked Hakuba.

"He flipped my skirt again today! Why does he keep doing that? It drives me crazy!"

"Hmmm, that may be the reason why he does it then. He likes how you react." Hakuba thought about something a moment before he decided to share it with Aoko. "I cannot condone such acts on any fine lady such as yourself. Perhaps we could devise a way to 'get back at him?'

Aoko liked the idea but became downcast, "I tried that once. I wore fish panties-," Hakuba motioned that he did not understand, "Kaito's afraid of fish. So, yeah, I wore fish panties and scared him with that but it hasn't stopped him from doing it again and again." She sighed, "I'm not sure what to do."

Hakuba offered, "Let me think about it and when I get a useable idea, we can show him that you don't appreciated his behavior."

"Thanks, Hakuba-kun!"

That evening, Hakuba called Aoko to present his idea to her. She was thrilled despite the trickiness of the project. She was quite sure that it might stop Kaito from flipping her skirt.

The next day at school, Aoko and Hakuba showed up early. They distributed something wrapped in a small plastic sack to all their classmates and gave them instructions.

Kaito showed up just before that bell that day. Aoko made sure he would just make it to class by explaining the plan to his mother (who happened to be quite happy to help Aoko).

During the midmorning break, when the teachers switched rooms, Kaito moved in for the kill. With practiced ease, he flipped Aoko's skirt. He began to dash away but stopped in puzzlement. Why had not Aoko shrieked in rage? Why was she not chasing him?

He turned around to see Aoko smiling manically. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her holding an object that sent uncontrolled shivers down his spine. Unwillingly, he looked at what she was holding. It was a rubber fish.

Kaito squeaked and backed up quickly until his back was up against the chalkboard. He looked around for a way to escape but found the rest of the class had rubber fish. They advanced on him and dumped all the fish on him at once.

Kaito let out a shriek that was remarkably similar to the parting lines of the Wicked Witch of the West. "I'm melting! Melting!"

His classmates took some pity on him when the teacher came in and reclaimed their fish (for future use). Kaito lay on the floor, underneath the chalkboard, in a near catatonic state. The teacher simply looked at her usually errant student and shook her head. Class started immediately after that and it was well into the next class when Kaito finally revived.

Aoko turned in her seat towards Hakuba, "Hakuba-kun, that was a terrific idea."

"Always happy to lend my assistance to a young lady like yourself," he smiled.


	8. Challenge 25: Ichthyophobia

Challenge 25: Aggravations  
Rating: PG (K+)

* * *

Have you even had just one of those days or weeks? Well, as Kaito perched atop the pedestal above koi pond, he knew it was one of those heists. The worst part was that the pond was the least of the troubles during the heist. 

It had started out fine. He sent out a notice, Inspector Nakamori colored the air yellow, and they only figured out his target. Once the heist started, was when it started getting fishy. Quite literally.

"Kid, you #$," yelled Nakamori, "Drop that jewel and prepare to be arrested!"

"What are you now?" Kid asked cheekily, "A pirate?"

"Arrrrgggggghhhhhhh!" Nakamori yelled making strangling motions with his hands.

A Kid slipped into one of the traveling exhibits in the museum, he said, "You were good on the 'ar' but you need a little less 'gh'."

He jumped over one of the displays and climbed up another, to hide on top of it twenty feet above the passing cops' heads. Sighing, he looked at the gem. In the emergency lights, it flashed dully. _Sadly, no skylight_, he thought, tucking the gem into an inner pocket in his jacket.

Noticing that the cops were leaving the room, he slipped down from the display. Curiously, he turned to look at what the traveling exhibit was. He jumped up and onto another display. The display he had been perched on was an elaborate mural of a shark. It looked like it was coming right out of the painting.

Turning, he noticed that the whole exhibit was on sharks. A chill ran up his spine. "Note to self," he whispered, "Make sure to know what the traveling exhibit is in the future."

"There he is!" an excited officer yelled, seeing the white figure crouched on a display. Plastering a cocky grin on his face, Kid tipped his hat to the approaching cop and jumped right over his head and towards the approaching police. They scattered like bowling balls when it looked like he was not going to stop barreling forward.

Some recovered their wits in time to try the 'dog pile on the bandit from behind' maneuver. Did it work? Of course not but that did not stop them from trying. Kid grinned and sprinted out of the building and through the gardens attached to the museum. Vaulting over the stonewall using a rake he found, Kid landed on the other side and let out a muffled 'eep!'.

On all sides of him were open crates of fish. Why didn't he notice the smell earlier? Who knows? He was wondering that himself. He inched his way along the wall and away from the empty fisheyes he swore were staring at him. And following him as he moved.

Kid sighed with relief as they moved out of sight. He could hear the muffled yells of the officers on the other side of the wall. They were trying to coordinate so they could get someone over the wall. The occasional muffled curse floated over the wall. Kid raised an eyebrow, _Inspector Nakamori is a bad influence on his officers._

He noticed that the smell of fish was stronger than before. Warily, he looked around his surroundings. All the color drained from his face. There were tanks of fish swimming and stands with fish set up on them for display. There were the fishing games for children and fish shaped balloons.

Kid had dropped in on the annual Fish Fair. The one Aoko had been teasing him about earlier that day. The one he made note of that was taking place on the street next to the museum. The assortment of fish paraphernalia would have been funny to an ordinary person. But to Kaito, he felt like he had just stepped into a nightmare.

He whipped his head around when he heard the police begin to move down the street. Hastily, he leapt up on a box and jumped back over the wall. Anything was better than staying in the place that he had nightmares of.

Zipping through the gardens, he stopped to lean up against a statue. The shape of it felt odd. Fearing the worst, he turned and discovered that he was leaning up against the statue of a fish. One of many statues that dotted the landscape. With a cross between a yell of surprise and a curse, he leapt, in one jump, to the top of a pedestal in the middle of a little poll of water. That had fish swimming in it.

He squatted down and shivered. "Fish." He knew then, that it was one of those heists.

* * *

Story art at: www. deviantart. com /deviation /26100154 (paste into address box and remove the spaces) 


	9. Challenge 14: Vocabulary

**Challenge: **14, Back to School  
**Title: **Vocabulary  
**Author:** Ytak  
**Word Count:** 136  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Comments:** Probably not work safe.

* * *

"Hmmmm?" 

"What is it, Heiji?" asked Kazuha.

He held up the English vocabulary list, "Just looking at the vocabulary we are supposed to learn this week. Its all school related terms this week."

She bent her head down over the paper and began reading them off. "No surprise since the teacher said they started school over in the US recently."

"It's not that, it's one word on the list," Heiji said, grinning. "Look closely at the words."

Kazuha spent a minute looking at the list again and shook her head, "I don't see what you see."

He said, "See the word 'semester?'"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"It looks like it has the word 'seme' in it."

"You're right, it does look like that."

"So, would that mean that the semester is on top of the students?"

* * *

**Edit:** Just realized that not everyone knows what a seme is. It's the person that's on top in the relationship (the 'butch' if you will), the one who gives it. 


	10. Challenge 28: Abu Dhabi

Title: It didn't quite make it to Abu Dhabi  
Rating: G  
Word length: about 560  
Comments: I bet you haven't read Detective Conan crossedover with this series before.

* * *

"Ah! The professor got a package!" Ayumi exclaimed. She ran up to the box on the doorstep. "It has holes in it." 

Conan walked up to it and looked at the box. He stated, "That's a box for live animals. I wonder what its doing here?" Genta rang the doorbell and Agasa came to the door. "Ah! Welcome, come in," he said with a smile. His expression changed to one of curiosity, "What's this doing here?" He looked at the label, which was affixed to a red bow, and read, "To: Yuusaku Kudo." "Hmmm, I guess they forwarded it here because the Kudo's aren't home."

Inside, the Detective Boys clustered around the box. "Aren't you going to open it up, Professor? If it is a live animal, you can't just leave it there," Mitsuhiko said.

"Well, I suppose I have to," he said nervously.

Conan said quietly, so only the professor could hear him, "Be careful. It might be from _them_." Agasa nodded and gently pushed the kids back.

"Don't crowd. If it is an animal, you might frighten it if you all huddle around," Haibara said, standing back with Conan.

The top popped off and out bounded a grey tabby kitten, who promptly stretched and looked around.

The Detective Boys issued forth a collective "Awwwwww!" and huddled around the friendly kitten. Even Haibara walked over and was petting the kitten. Ayumi said, "This has to be the world's cutest kitty cat!"

"I wonder what its name it." Genta looked in the box and saw a card. "I can't read it. You read it, Conan-kun, it's in English." He handed the card to Conan.

"It says 'my name is Nermal,'" Conan read. He looked at the kitten who had entranced the professor with its cuteness. After a few moments, he found that, he too, had gravitated over to the kitten. He squelched down the desire to pet it and talk about how cute it was.

"Can I take Nermal home?" asked Ayumi.

"Sorry, Ayumi-chan, but the kitten was shipped to my neighbors, I guess I'll have to take care of it until I get word from them," Agasa said.

"Can we come over and play with it?" the trio begged. Unable to resist the pitiful looks they gave him (even the kitten joined in), Agasa said they could.

Over the next few days, Conan repeatedly checked the answering machine at 'his' home. This was after calling his parents to see if it was their bright idea to send him a cat (which they denied vehemently). Three days after the arrival of the kitten, he discovered a frantic message in English on the answering machine.

"Hi, this is Jon Arbuckle. I'm calling to see if you got a cat in the mail over the past couple of days. If you have, can you send Nermal back? Garfield, my cat, gets jealous and tries to send Nermal to Aubudabi. This time, though, he used one of the addresses from my address book. It's taken me the past three days to get him to let me know where he sent Nermal. So, if you could send Nermal back, I would be very thankful. (it sounded like Jon held the phone away) No, Garfield, get away from that plant! And don't you dare go near the kitchen! You are in so much trouble! click"


	11. Challenge 31&11 combo: Chocolate

Challenge: 31-Valentine's Day/ 11-4th wall

Title: Chocolate can act as a catalyst?  
Author: Ytak  
Word count: 343  
Genre: Romance (Sato/Takagi)  
Comments: I couldn't help it. I wanted to give him chocolate.

--------

Takagi stumbled into the break room, a clueless expression gracing his face. In his hands, he held a box of chocolate. Inspector Chiba, who was about to leave the room, noticed his new acquisition. "Who's the chocolate from?"

"I wish I knew," Takagi said. "This young woman just walked up to me and handed it to me. She told me she is a fan of me, even though I already have someone, and she wanted me to have this. When I looked back up from the chocolate, she was gone. No one else remembers seeing her around."

Chiba took the box from him and tore of the wrapper. He looked at the chocolates closely and smelled them. He handed it back, "I don't think their drugged but its up to you if you want to eat them. I think it might be a security risk."

Takagi blinked, "A security risk? Other than the obvious reasons of their being stuff inside the chocolate, would there be a risk?"

Chiba's eyes widened. "–cough- behindyou -cough-"

Takagi turned around and felt the color drain from his face. Sato stood behind him with her arms folded and tapping a foot on the floor. Her face was curiously blank.  
"Ah, uh, Sato-san….I can explain," Takagi stuttered.

Yumi appeared out of nowhere and latched onto one of Takagi's arms. "Yeah, he could if he really knew what was going on but he doesn't understand." She gave him a sly grin, "Someone else is making a move on you." She turned to Sato, a sly glint in her eye that only Takagi saw, "Miwako, you're going to lose him if you don't hurry!"

Sato looked thoughtful for a moment before a predatory grin grew across her face. "We'll see about that," she said. She unlatched Yumi from Takagi's arm and pushed her back along with Chiba. Leaning in, she told whispered to Takagi, "Our date is back on for tonight. I'll pick _you_ up. You'll find out where we're going when we get there."

Takagi gulped nervously, "Yes, ma'am!"

-----------

Girl giving chocolateme. Couldn't help it, Takagi's cute.


	12. Challenge 27: Premature

Title: Premature  
Rating: K  
Comments: I'm probably giving Kogoro too much credit but I stumbled onto **15minuteficlets** and it wouldn't let go. I also realized that is fits challenge 27: Beginnings/Endings. Nyah!

* * *

It happened all too fast. She was slipping away from him and he could do nothing about it. It was too late for him to stop it from happening. Only now did he realize all the missed opportunities. All the moments that could have been created that he could hold onto and cherish. He could not do anything now. It was happening too soon.

He simply had to let go.

It hurt. It hurt more than he ever thought it would.

She was no longer the person that she had been a year ago. No, even a week ago.

"Wait, Ran!" he yelled, knowing his attempt was futile, that she would go anyway.

She stopped, turned and gave him a gentle smile, "It's okay, dad, I'm not going away forever. We'll be back from the honeymoon in two weeks."

He wanted to tell her that that was not it. He was not afraid of _that_.

_I don't want to lose my little girl!_ he wanted to say. Instead, he settled on giving her a rib-crunching hug.

"If he hurts you or ever makes you feel bad, you can come back to me."

"Dad, I can't breathe," she wheezed before he let go. "I'm fine, dad. Really."

She turned from him and followed the most important man in her life out to the waiting limousine.

He reached out for her as she walked away. He tried to say something but the words caught in his throat and she was away before he could find his voice again.

An arm slipped into his. He looked down onto his estranged (could he really say that anymore?) wife.

She was sniffing a little, dabbing the corners of her eyes with a very damp handkerchief.

"It happened so soon," she said. "I didn't expect it for a few years yet. I should have. I'm her mother. I should know these things."

Awkwardly, he moved his arm around her waist and pulled her close. Gruffly, he said, "I tried to stop it. I could see that it was moving in that direction. Then it became worse. Then he returned to her life and nothing I could do would stop it from happening."


End file.
